THE SADDLERS dug deep to battle out a deserved point in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest despite having Ishmel Demontagnac sent off in the first half.

After an early scare as Nathan Tyson caused problems in the Walsall penalty area, The Saddlers took a sixth minute lead when a corner from manager, Paul Merson, who was pressed into the starting line-up to replace the injured Jorge Leitao, was curled perfectly onto the head of one-time Forest target, Matty Fryatt who planted an unchallenged header beyond Paul Gerrard.

It was a positive start for Merson's men, who were backed by a large and vocal following, as we forced a series of early corners. But Forest came close on the quarter-hour mark when Nicky Southall's free-kick from a wide position following a foul by Craig Pead found the head of Ian Breckin who was up from the back. However, Joe Murphy was equal to it as he made a superb save to push the ball out.

The Nottingham-born Julian Bennett was booked on 18 minutes for a reckless challenge after he had put in a couple of strong earlier tackles that were better timed.

A low shot on the turn by Merson on 25 minutes flew just wide of the target before a flashpoint near the half-way line saw Ishmel Demontagnac concede a free-kick before tangling with Southall. The Saddlers' youngster was duly red-carded and had to be ushered down the tunell by stewards as he continued to vent his anger.

The sending off gave the home side a lift and soon afterwards Murphy tipped over a Gareth Taylor header following a disputed free-kick. Fro the resulting corner, Murphy once more kept his side in it as he produced a fine point-blank save to deny Breckin.

There was an edge creeping into the game and with 11 minutes to go until half-time, Daryl Taylor conceded a free-kick in another wide position and this time skipper Breckin made no mistake as he once more found space in the area to head firmly home.

The second period started with Forest defender, Wes Morgan embarking upon a burst out of defence before picking out Bastians whose low ball into the danger zone evaded everyone.

An ambitious effort from Merson from the edge of the area flew over before two minutes later, Fryatt did well to hold off his marker before curling a shot goalwards which Gerrard managed to push out.

At the other end, Murphy did well to block at the feet of Tyson after Pead attempted to let the ball run out without success before the on-loan 'keeper pushed out a long-range drive from Bastians that swerved in front of him.

The Saddlers were working hard to defend their point against a side who have the best home record in League One, and Simon Osborn was withdrawn from the action on 80 minutes to be replaced by Kris Taylor.

The majority of the 20,912 crowd were getting frustrated as the clock ticked down and although Walsall had to soak up more than their fair share of pressure, there were a couple of occasions late on when we gave our hosts food for thought. Firstly, Daryl Taylor's ball inside was just deflected behind both Fryatt and Kris Taylor who had made runs into the penalty area before Fryatt himself looked to get away but was crowded out and had to settle for a corner.

Daryl Taylor was replaced by youth teamer, Mark Bradley right at the death as we carved out a good point.